Til My Soul Is Dust
by InnitMarvelous
Summary: In order to save the universe and everything he loves, a terrible price must be paid. INFINITY WAR SPOILERS
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** I began this after seeing Infinity War on opening weekend and this chapter would have been out sooner if I hadn't also caught the cold from heck the same day!

This contains lots of spoilers and is speculation fic based off one of my worst fears from what Avengers 4 might bring next year.

* * *

Red-orange.

Pink.

Violet.

Golden yellow against dark blue.

The sunset of the tropical paradise they were currently hiding away from the world, would have been one of the most beautiful sunsets Pepper had ever seen in her life. Would have been if… if she wasn't in a constant state of fear and worry for the man dozing in her arms.

After the battle for the universe was done, after everyone had went their separate ways to return to the people they had fought so hard for because they loved them, Pepper had found herself sitting beside Tony, jetting their way halfway across the world to South Korea.

To see Helen Cho.

It was a dire emergency, more so than Pepper had been led to believe. Even after Tony had collapsed during the victory celebration they held before the Guardians had left Earth, she still didn't have any idea how serious Tony's condition really was. Because he had minimized everything when he came to,had laughed it off.

She had had only started to realize how serious it was when he had consented to go to South Korea to see Helen.

 _Helen's eyes were dark, infinite orbs of regretful sadness when she had across from them in her office with the results of Tony's extensive tests._

 _"Tony, Pepper, I'm so very sorry I have to say this. I wish I had some other news I could give you than what I have to say but-"_

 _Tony swallowed then said, "How long do I have left, Helen?"_

 _The bio-geneticist shrugged, her eyes dropping, "I am only guesstimating here... but given all the damage that most of your vital organs including your heart, lungs, and kidneys sustained... I would guess you have about a month left. Maybe two if you take it easy, and try to not exert yourself too much."_

 _He nodded, accepting the price he would pay for standing up to and helping to_ defeat _the greatest threat the universe had even known._

 _Pepper stared at her, trying to process that Helen had just told them Tony only had two months left to live. Left to be with her. Tony pressing his lips to the back of her hand is what brought her out of her stupor._

 _"What? You're saying that Tony is dying?"_

 _"Yes, Pepper, I am. I am sorry."_

 _"You can't do anything to help him? At all?"_

 _"No, I'm sorry."_

 _"You said there's extensive damage to his heart, lungs, and kidneys right? Well why not just do transplants for all of those?"_

 _"Because someone... maybe a lot of someones would have to die so I could live, honey. That's only after I've been waiting on the list for a long time. And I would have to wait like everyone else, Pep. I won't use my... our money or influence to move to the top of the list."_

 _"But-"_

 _He kissed her hand again, "It's okay, honey. I knew what could happen when I followed Strange that day at the park."_

 _"No! I am not giving up! You can't die!" Pepper all but shouted then she looked at Helen, "What about that machine you made? The... what was it called again? The Crib?"_

 _"The Cradle."_

 _"Yes, that! Can't you use the Cradle to repair the damage to Tony's organs?"_

 _"I..."_

 _"Helen, please! I can't lose him! Not now!_ "

Pepper wiped away a tear at the memory of Helen spending several minutes explaining to her that in Tony's case the Cradle couldn't save him. The explanation had been long and she hadn't understood everything the other woman had said but she understood enough at the end.

Tony was going to die, and there was no stopping his death this time.

It had been weeks ago that Helen had given them the news. She had suggested that he stay there in South Korea so she could do everything possible to help easy his passage from the world. But they had refused her suggestion because Tony had wanted to die at home. Helen had understood and put them in contact with a doctor who would be able to keep Tony out of pain when he reached the end of his life.

They had returned briefly to New York to invite their friends to their small yet perfect, and very intimate wedding. It had been so under the wire and low key that by the time the New York paparazzi found out they had tied the knot, they'd had already left for what the world believed to be their honeymoon on a private island in the Caribbean.

* * *

The most surprising thing for people regarding the wedding of Tony Stark to Pepper Potts was the fact it wasn't the big event of the century. Everyone had expected for it to be the kind of event that everyone who was anyone in the circles of the rich and celebrity to be invited to witness Tony actually forever tied himself down to one woman for all time. Instead, what happened was the only people who were invited to the ceremony itself were those who were in on the couple's innermost circle of family and friends.

However the reception afterwards was another story. It was held at what was still being called the Avengers compound, and indeed would be for years to come as new heroes came forward to continue defending the Earth. The invited guests included everyone who had been at the ceremony, a few of the company's most important business partners or associates, and finally anyone who was an employee at Stark Industries.

Food and drinks of every kind had been provided for most of the guests in the form of a several buffet tables spread over the grounds. Most of everyone could help themselves whenever or whatever they wanted to eat with the reception was going on but for the wedding party things were a little different. For them, they'd be sitting down to dinner underneath a white pavilion that had been erected by the caterers Pepper had hired to handle the reception, at a tables that had been set up for that very purpose. They'd have dinner, and afterwards there would no doubt toasts, cutting of their cake, and even some dancing on the floor the caterers had set up for them.

They were finished with dinner and Rhodey had just finished giving a long heartfelt, surprisingly only mildly embarrassing speech as Tony's Best Man when while still chuckling at what his best friend had said Tony's eyes found those of Stephen Strange.

"Tony?"

He looked down, _down_ at his bride (When exactly did he stand up?), and taking the hand she held out towards him, kissed it, then said, "I'm okay. I need to run to the little groom's room is all."

Pepper looked at him for a long second then, nodded, "Alright. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yep, right as rain."

"Don't be too long."

"I won't," he promised, kissing her softly before straightening up and letting go of her hand.

"Hey, where's he going?"

He heard Rhodey's question as he started walked away from the table, and towards the bathroom, trusting Strange to head in the same direction as well. Half a minute later, he had reached the sorcerer.

"Follow me," Strange said simply and without explanation.

What Tony could only describe as a crack in the fabric of reality appeared, and as he watched the other man stepped into it, disappearing. He took a quick look around to see if anyone, especially Pepper had noticed the magic Strange was performing in their midst. Once he saw no one noticed, and that Pepper was busy talking to Natasha, he shrugged, then stepped through the crack himself.

"Expecting to go somewhere?" Stephen Strange asked after he had watched Tony look around for a moment.

"You could say that. The first I met you and you opened... what was it, a portal?"

"Yes."

"Okay, you opened a portal and we stepped through to your place. This..." Tony gestured around them where people were talking or walking by them as though they couldn't see them, "Looks like we were before stepping into the crack you made out of thin air."

"It's because we _are_ where we were before stepped into the crack, as you called it."

"How come they can't see or hear us?" Tony asked waving his hand in front of a man's face while shouting the last part of what he had been saying.

The man went on chewing his food like nothing else was going on.

"They can't see or hear us because while we've not changed our location, we have changed the dimension we were in."

"Come again?"

"We're currently in a different dimension than the one you know as reality. Surely as someone who is familiar with the various fields of scientific studies, you've heard the about theories of multiverses or dimensions existing simultaneously alongside our own."

"Not really a field I usually subscribe too but yes, I've read some of the theories about there being multiple dimensions but I wasn't sure I bought the theories."

"Not even with all you've seen and been through to another one?"

"Nope, although I'd say _this_ is tipping the scales in favor of me believing they exist." Looking back at the sorcerer, he got serious, "So what did you want to talk to me about that you didn't want everyone else overhearing? I mean I know you didn't bring me here just to make me a believer in other dimensions, as cool as this one is."

Shaking his head, Strange confirmed his suspicions with blunt words as well, "You're dying." It wasn't a question but a statement of fact.

Tony gave him a look, then quipped, "You know taking me to cool dimensions aside, Doc, you've really got to stop with the magic mumbo jumbo!"

"It's not magic," came the soft response, "The doctor in front of my name is there for a reason. I was there when Thanos stabbed you. I admit I had hoped what my medically trained was telling me when that happened was wrong. But I know it wasn't wrong. I saw the trajectory when Thanos stabbed you, and I know very well the damage it must have caused to several of your major organs."

"You're very observant. Are you weren't Sherlock Holmes in a former life?"

"I think Doctor Watson would be a much better and probably more accurate analogy."

"I thought Watson wasn't too bright."

"Have you read at of the original stories by Conan Doyle?"

"No, never could find the time."

"If you had, you'd see that Doctor Watson isn't quite the total idiot that some movie versions have portrayed him as. But we're getting way off the subject at hand here."

"Yes, my pending death. Tell me did you bring me here so you can offer your condolences or whatever? Because if that's it then-"

"Then you rather I end this conversation now and let you get back to your wife's side."

"Yeah, I'd really prefer you save it if that's where this is headed because if I wanted to hear heartfelt but in the end useless platitudes or see everyone's pitying looks, I'd-"

"You would have told everyone what your prognosis is."

"Uh huh, exactly."

"Well, you can relax. I'm not here to offer _useless platitudes_ but my... aid."

"Your _aid_?"

Strange nodded.

Tony laughed, "No offense, but unless you know some kind of magic that can stop what Thanos did to me from killing me, I don't see _how_ you can give me any kind of aid."

"I'm sorry but magic cannot save your life."

"Well, thanks for coming to the wedding. Could you tell Wong I said thanks too because that'd be great? Now if you'll let me out of this dimension, I'd really like to get back before Pepper starts thinking I've passed out in the men's room."

"Tony."

It was something about the way the sorcerer said his name made the billionaire stop to listen.

"I am very sorry there is nothing I can do for you with either magic or by medical means. But because I cannot change the ultimate outcome... and the price you paid to help defeat Thanos, it doesn't mean I cannot help you. Take this."

A green stone on a simple metal chain appeared, and floated in the air in front of Tony. He reached out to take it then stopped, "What is it?"

"A way to ease your pain when the time comes. I know they told you that there will be pain when your body begins to shut down."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tony gave a nod, "Yeah, they did tell me that. I'll be seeing a pain management specialist in a few weeks for when..."

"Take this amulet, and you won't have the need to use their services."

"Why?"

"Because when the time comes, you will have _my_ services, and I promise you, you won't one minute shred of pain."

"Uh-"

"Take it. Take the amulet, Tony."

Swallowing again, he finally take hold of the amulet, and slipped it around his neck.

"Wear it at all times, so when you need me, I will know it."

"What about Pepper?"

"What about her?"

"She's going to see it," Tony countered, and looked at the other people, "So will they."

"They won't be able to see it."

"They won't?"

"No."

"Good because I don't want to have to deal with any awkward questions."

"No, I wouldn't think so."

"Well I think I probably should be getting back to Pepper now. So thank you for-" His voice trailed off when he realized he was no longer in the Mirror dimension but was in fact standing in a stall in the men's room.

"Commentary on when we first met, Doc?" he muttered with a smile.

Of course there was no reply, and he hadn't expected one. With a shake of his head, he washed his hands before he exited the bathroom.

He wouldn't see Stephen Strange again until almost three months later.

* * *

 **EN:** I am completely in love with the snarktastic interactions we got between Tony and Doctor Strange in IW. Their meeting was all I dreamed it would be and more! I really wish there would have been more scenes/moments with them!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I am adding this chapter because I have been working on this again recently. But please understand this story has some more work in store for it, and my updating it does not equal a promise that it'll get finished any time soon if ever.

* * *

Today they were lounging together on the beach underneath the shade of two huge umbrellas. They'd started the day talking while watching the ships sail by on the distant horizon.

The conversation had quickly turned to baby names.

"Tony, how much do you like the name Morgan?"

"I don't know." he said with a shrug, then took a long sip of his drink before he asked, "Why? You don't like it?"

It was her turn to shrug, "Well, I like my uncle and I think his name fits him."

"But?"

"But I don't know if I want to give our son _or_ daughter his name."

"Daughter?"

"Yes, daughter. You do realize that Morgan is a girl's name too nowadays, right?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, I know it's a girl's name too but I guess I didn't think of it in that way because in my dream we had a son."

"Well, it's possible we might have a girl... and anyway back to the topic. I want to know how much do you like the name? On a scale one to ten with ten being the highest?"

He thought about it a second, sipping his drink again, "I don't maybe a seven or eight?"

"So which one is it? A seven or eight?"

"Eight I guess. You?"

"Six for me."

"Only a six?"

"Yeah, sorry. Like I said, I think the name is great for Uncle Morgan-"

"But you're not sure you want to name our kid after him."

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess we could talk about other names if you want."

"You're okay with that?"

He nodded, "Sure why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, I don't know? Maybe because of your dream? When you first told me about your dream and every time you've mentioned the name Morgan, you sound like you're already in... I don't know love with the idea of there being a little Stark being named Morgan."

"I did love my dream. It's one of the nicest, realest dreams I've ever had in my life, and yeah, I did _like_ the name Morgan. But you know what I liked... loved even more than his name? It was the fact that _we_ , as in us, have a kid together! A kid! Me with a kid! A guy who pretty much thought he'd never want to have one in this lifetime now wants to have… one!"

He'd almost said a higher number, like ten, but stopped himself because saying such a thing would only have caused them both further pain. He knew no matter how much he wanted it, he wouldn't even be here when their only child was born.

"What changed?"

"Huh? What?" Tony asked, snapping out of his thoughts when he realized his wife had spoken."

"I asked, what changed? What's changed to make you change your mind about wanting to have a child?" Pepper suspected she already knew the answer but she wanted to hear his answer anyway.

"I need a refill," Tony said, standing up before walking towards the outdoor minibar, "Want me to grab you another water?"

"Yes, please," she replied, forcing herself not to say that's what he should have too.

When they started dating years ago, Tony's consumption of alcohol dropped a lot down from what she knew he usually drank in a day. In those days sometimes, it dropped so much that she was sure the only time he had any was when they ate dinner together and he'd had a glass of wine with her.

Then after Killian and especially after Ultron, she noticed he was drinking more with each day that passed until sadly the increase in his drinking had been one of the prime factors of their break.

Now that he... might have need of pain medicine any second of day now, they were trying to limit his consumption to any kind of alcoholic drinks to one a day. He hadn't even been having a drink every day but Pepper hasn't failed to notice that today he'd had just finished his second one.

A bottle of water appeared in her field of vision.

"Here you go," he said as he resumed his seat beside her, twisting off the cap on his own bottle of water, drinking, and looking at her, "Honey, are you okay?"

She quickly opened her own water, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Oh no reason. You were just staring at me like I had grown another head or something."

"Was I?"

"Yeah, you were."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare."

Tony gave her a look that said he wasn't quite sure why she continued to stare, shrugged, then opened his own bottle of water, "So where were we?"

"I believe I just asked you to tell me what changed your mind about wanting to have a kid?"

"I was?"

"Yes."

He didn't answer her question for so long, electing to look at the horizon that Pepper was quite certain he wasn't going to answer her. She opened her mouth to tell him that he didn't have to when he shrugged again and quietly spoke an answer.

"You. Peter. You're both the reason I want to be a... I want to have a kid."

"Me?"

"Yes, _you_. I can't imagine another woman I'd ever want to have a kid with. More to the point, I can't imagine any other woman in the world who'd want to have a kid with someone as screwed up as I am."

"You are _not_ screwed up, Tony!"

"You did not just totally say that!"

"Well you're not!"

"Look me right in the eye and say that with a completely straight face."

Pepper turned her head, looked him right in the eye as he said, "You are not screwed up, Tony." Eye contact continued between them until she felt the corners of her mouth began to turn upwards, then finally lost it when he crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Aha! See I told you! I _am_ screwed up and your laughing says that you agree with that statement!"

"No, it does not!"

"Yes, it does!

"No, it doesn't!"

"Yes, it does!"

"No, I say it because it _is_ **true** , Tony. Don't you know how _much_ it hurts me when you keep talking about yourself in a way that says you don't deserve to be loved? Because that is what you're really saying when you say you are screwed up, and it's _not_ true! You deserve every ounce of love you can get from every last one of us who loves you."

She sighed, and reached out to run play with the hair at the nape of his neck, "I swear, Tony, it's a good thing the Time Stone was destroyed or I'd be calling up Doctor Strange now!"

"First, of all, I doubt Strange would let you use it if it were still around but let's say he surprises me and does. What would you want to use the Time Stone for?"

"So I could go back in time and blast your father into oblivion!"

"Well, it's really a good thing the Time Stone is gone because you know, honey, if you did that _I_ wouldn't be here anymore right? You'd erase me from existence."

"Actually I wouldn't erase you because I wouldn't go back far enough in time for that to happen!" She withdrew her hand, and used it to pick up her bottled water.

Tony smiled at her, but it was a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and she decided it was sad. Maybe she shouldn't have brought his father up? She was about to ask what was wrong when he spoke.

"I saw him."

"Saw him?"

He nodded, "My Dad. I saw my Dad."

"Oh my... where? Or I should say, _when_ did you see him?"

"It was while we were trying to stop Thanos, and we were doing all of the jumping around different time periods."

"Did he... did he see you?"

Tony nodded, "Yeah, he did... but he didn't know who I was. He didn't recognize me as being his son."

"Tony..." Pepper was forced to stop there because of the sudden, huge lump that formed in her throat, and she reached forward to touch his face.

Taking her hand, he kissed her knuckles,and gave her a watery smile, "It's okay, Pep. I think I was just a baby in the time period we stopped in. There was no way he could have recognized me."

They both knew it was only a partial truth because for _years_ Tony had heard the remarks about how much he looked like his father, and she had seen the pictures. Surely if the man had really looked at the future version of his son, Howard would have recognized who Tony was.

Right?

She thought about pointing that out but when she looked at him, and could see he was now tired on top of the sadness, she dropped it. Instead, she moved her hand to caress his hair, murmuring, "Why don't the three of us go take a nap together?"

He hesitated as though he were considering it, "A nap with the three of us together sounds just like what I need right now."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** This is a short update, but maybe the next one will be longer and I know it will be if I go with the chapter I've already got written.

Anyway I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Don't _waste it. Don't waste your life, Tony."_

"What? What was that?" Pepper asked as she continued massaging her husband's back.

"I said, _'Don't waste it, Don't waste your life, Tony.'_ " He felt Pepper's hands still a little then they continued on.

"Was that something someone said to you?" she asked.

Tony nodded, "Yeah, Yinsen."

"The man you were held captive with in Afghanistan?"

"One and the same."

"When did he say that to you?" Tony had only opened up to her recently about his captivity in Afghanistan. He had told her a lot about the man he had simply known as Yinsen from Gulmira. He had told her some of the things the man had said to her but try as she might, Pepper couldn't remember him ever telling her those words by the man who had saved her husband's life.

Tony sighed, "Literally just a second before he died. Actually, his words were _'Don't waste it, Don't waste your life, Stark.'_ But here lately when I've been dreaming about him, besides the dream definitely being in black and white, I've noticed that he calls me Tony instead of Stark. Yinsen only ever said Tony once or twice and _always_ called me Stark every other time."

"So," she began after a moment of silence, "Are you having any other dreams about Afghanistan I should know about?"

"Mmm, no I'm not. Just Yinsen."

"Why do you think you're dreaming about him after all this time?"

"I don't know why but dreaming about him has been making me think."

"About?"

He shrugged, and turned over, effectively ending the massage. He reached out, taking Pepper's hand, and pulled her to sit down beside him, "About whether or not I've done what he asked me to do, or if I have wasted the last ten years."

Silence fell over them as Pepper considered what she should say as a response to his musings, "Tony, you're worried that you haven't done enough to honor what he asked from, so let me ask you this. Do you consider Iron Man and everything you've done as Iron Man to be a waste?"

"Do you consider _us_ , you and me, to be a waste?"

"No! Oh, honey, no of course not!" he blurted, then quickly added, "Other than the time I wasted seeing what I had in you, I'd never consider us or with you being with you a waste!" He laid his hand on her stomach, "And I definitely don't consider us making this little guy a waste."

She smiled at him, "Well, then I think you have your answer about how he'd see what you've done with your life."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Tony… there's no _maybe_. You've done everything you can to honor what he asked of you. I didn't know him, but from what you've told me about him, I believe he would be proud of you."

"I hope so. I hope he would," he replied, his mind heavy on Ultron.

Knowing what he was thinking about, she put her hand on top of his, and murmured, "I _know_ so… because I _am_."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** I tried not to post this tonight but could not resist in the end.

Two more chapters after this, and I warn you now, the angst only gets turned up from this chapter on out.

* * *

"Why didn't you call for me sooner, Tony?"

He heard the voice of Stephen Strange a second before the Master of the Mystical Arts appeared beside him.

"Hello to you too, Doc," Tony replied, briefly taking his eyes off of Pepper who was walking on the beach below to look at Strange.

Although there were chairs available for him to use, the sorcerer was floating beside him, having seated himself in the air.

"I'm serious, Stark. There was no need to allow it get this bad."

Tony shrugged, "I guess I didn't want to admit to myself that it was getting _this_ bad. But the painkillers they gave me aren't working anymore. Not even taking the edge off now."

Stephen nodded, "It's because the painkillers you've been using are meant to help with post operative pain, and not the pain that comes with terminal illnesses."

Tony didn't ask how he knows exactly what kind of painkillers he'd been using up until today as the man is a wizard after all. Instead, he attempts to sit up in the lounger and immediately feels beads of sweat break out on his face as the movement jacks up his pain level to almost off the chart levels.

"I know," he ground out as soon as he had enough breath to do so, "But I... I don't want to... use anything stronger. They make... make you sleep and I _need_ to spend whatever... time I've got left... awake. I want to be looking at Pepper's face when I... die."

"And so you will be, my friend," Stephen replied softly, waving his hands.

The pain was instantly gone.

Tony took a long, deep, refreshing breath and look at him, "Thank you. It was getting harder to breath." So hard in fact he knew he would soon have needed to use the oxygen the doctors gave them.

"You are welcome. I only wish there was more I could do." _I wish I could save your life._

"And I wish I had our first meeting to do over again, Stephen. If I could, then I wouldn't be the same pain in the-" His voice trailed off when he felt the other man's hand on his shoulder.

"What's done is done, Tony. I wasn't exactly a big warm teddy bear to you either. It's over now, and although it's probably not much comfort, everything happened as it was supposed to. Everything."

"How do you know everything happened like it was supposed to? Because you saw it all?"

"Well yes, it's because I saw it but also because we're sitting here, having this conversation now. If Thanos had won for keeps, trust me, we wouldn't be here," he answered, looking down at Pepper, "And _they_ wouldn't be here either."

Tony rolled his eyes, and chuckled, "Is there anything you don't know about?"

It was Stephen's turn to laugh, "Well I could say it's because I'm a sorcerer or I was eavesdropping on your conversation with Mrs. Stark that day I came to find you in the park. But as it is, I am only using the Doctor part in front of my name." He nodded towards Pepper.

Tony looked at his wife to see that Pepper had her hands on her stomach and was rubbing it.

"It's true I was a neurosurgeon in my former life, but I saw enough expectant mothers to recognize what she's doing means."

"I want this so much... want to be with her. I was such an idiot with her for the longest time, couldn't see what I had in her because I was too busy wasting my life away with booze, parties, and a different woman in my bed almost every night. And..."

He paused, rubbing his scar from the arc reactor, "And if it hadn't been for my time in the cave in Afghanistan, and for the friend who died saving my life asking me not to waste my life, then I'd still be living in a haze of booze, parties, and women."

"If it hadn't been for the cave in Afghanistan, you would have died years ago, and then we'd all be dead now because there wouldn't have been anyone else here who could have defeated Thanos."

"Don't you think you're being a little too melodramatic? If I hadn't been here, someone else would have stepped up to fight Thanos. Steve-"

"Only did his part. He couldn't do what was destined to be yours."

Steve had died on their last battlefield, shortly after Thanos himself had taken his final breath. If he closed his eyes now, he could still see the blood pouring out Steve from wounds that not even the serum couldn't heal them in time.

Steve had died fighting at his side, helping to save the universe and before he went, Tony had forgiven him.

For everything.

"Remember Tony, I saw every possible outcome. Without you... without Tony Stark, the universe as we know it would be gone, and everyone we love would now be dead."

"Careful, Doctor, or I really won't be able to fit my head in my helmet."

Thinking of how untrue and just judgmental his words to Tony had been then, Strange smiled. He knew better now. They had bitten each others' heads off so much in those first hours they'd known each other, and truth be told, until he had seen the sacrifice Tony would make for the universe, he really _did not_ like the man. But seeing that outcome had changed his perception of the billionaire because he saw hidden underneath all that annoying arrogance, beat a heart that truly did care about everyone around the man. But more than that, he had seen the depth of love contained within that same heart.

And perhaps it cared a little too much, as he came to to realize a little too late.

"So," Tony said after a brief lull in their conversation, "I don't suppose you would know a spell that can speed up time or slow it down enough for me to see my baby being born?"

He _hated_ having to lie to the man he owed his continued existence to, but he also knew the dangers of messing with time. The whole war with Thanos had made it clear to him that time spells must be left alone, no matter the cost.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. It's okay."

The grief, the sad acceptance in his voice resonated so deeply in his mind, indeed his _heart_ that the sorcerer knew he couldn't leave Tony behind without trying to fulfill this dying wish for him in some way.

"There might be a way I can help you," he began slowly, considering his words carefully, "It won't be exactly what you want, you wouldn't be there in any sense of the word physically, but I may be able to provide a way for you to witness the birth of your child."

"Whatever it is you mean by that, I'll take it. Even if it's something like a dream, I will take it."

"Prophetic choice of words, because that is precisely how I will show you."

"When?"

"Now if you wish."

Tony looked in Pepper's direction, and saw she was still walking peacefully along the beach.

"Have I mentioned that she can't see me?"

"No, I think you neglected to say that. So she doesn't know you're here?"

"No, she doesn't."

"Can I tell her?"

"If you wish."

"I will later. What do I need to do for you to show me?"

"Lie back in the lounger, and get comfortable. Let me know when you are."

Tony nodded, and wiggled around in the lounger until he was relatively comfortable.

"Comfy?"

"Yeah."

"Close your eyes."

He did as Strange instructed, and jumped a second later when he felt the sorcerer's hand touch his forehead.

"Relax, Tony, I will not harm you."

"I know. I trust you, Stephen."

"I'm going to help you sleep now. You will dream of your son."

Tony's eyes met his, "So we _will_ have a son?"

Stephen smiled, "Yes. Now, close your eyes. Relax. Take deep breaths. Listen to my voice. You will sleep, and dream of him… of your son."

"Will I forget the dream when I wake up?"

"No, this will be burned deep into your mind and your heart for the rest of your days. Sleep."

He watched Tony relax into sleep, and once he was certain he was asleep, dreaming, he said quietly, "Goodbye, my friend. We won't meet again on this plane of existence. But I will look for you in others. Goodbye."

* * *

"Okay, what? How the… how did I get here?" Tony muttered as he looked around the hallway he was standing in.

The walls were a calming shade of blue with pictures dotting it every so often.

He couldn't really make out the pictures, and he knew somehow it didn't really make a difference anyway.

He was just considering going to look for someone so he could find out where he was when he heard a woman scream.

In pain.

"What the…" he muttered when it dawned on him it was _Pepper's_ voice he had heard screaming in pain.

She was screaming again before he could make his feet move towards the direction he heard it coming from.

He entered into a good sized room that was mostly filled with people he didn't know. He didn't have time to ask himself who they all were because his eyes immediately looked for his wife.

Pepper was half laying on a bed near the far wall of the room. Her face was red, covered in both sweat and tears, and she was saying, "Tony! I want Tony!"

It was only then he noticed the hand of his best friend using a white towel to wipe away the sweat that was almost in her eyes. His other hand was locked tightly into that of his wife's.

"I know you do, Pepper," Rhodey said looking into her eyes/

Tony stepped forward, "I'm here! Honey, I'm right here!"

Pepper's face scrunched up with pain again, and it was then he noticed the presence of the scrub clad man seated on a stool in front of his wife, right between her legs.

"Give me two more **big** pushes, Mrs. Stark, and your son will be in your arms soon after!"

Pepper nodded, taking a deep breath, let loose a scream as she pushed as hard as she could.

When the contraction passed, Rhodey wiped her brow again, "Almost there, Pepper! He's almost here! Just hold on for a little bit longer!"

She nodded again, and feeling another contraction coming on, took a deep breath and…

A baby's cry filled the room.

"And congratulations! Your son is here!" The doctor said, as he hand the newborn off to a nurse.

Tears flooded down Tony's face as he followed the nurse over to where she cleaned the baby before she put his son on a scale to weighed him. She then quickly swaddled him before putting a little cap on his head. She gently scooped him up, and carrying him over to his mother's waiting arms.

It was almost like the baby could feel the very moment he was laid in his mother's arms because he immediately stopped crying. He stopped crying and his mother started as she gazed down at his red, wrinkly face.

"Hi there, sweetheart! It's me! It's your Mommy!" she cooed at him.

Tony noticed that Rhodey just stood nearby watching mother and son get acquainted with each other. He also noticed his best friend was trying not to cry, and was surreptitiously wiping away the tears that did escape their way down his cheeks.

Tony had opened his mouth to say something to Rhodey, but never got to because Pepper was talking again herself.

"He's so beautiful, Tony, and he looks so much like you. I wish you could be here. I wish you could hold him."

He was crying again, hearing her words. He got as close as he could to the bed, and leaning over them both said, "I'm here, Pep. I'm right here, and I'll never leave you or our son. I love you both so much. Please, honey, hear me. I _need_ you to hear me."

But Pepper never gave any indication she could hear him and, he supposed, it was something Strange never promised him. He had told Tony he'd witness his son's birth, but he never said that he'd get to be an active participant in the events.

It was okay.

It was enough.

It had to be.

He saw Pepper look up then over at Rhodey, and the words she said made his heart ache.

"Come over here and meet your godson, Rhodey."


	5. Chapter 5

Pepper wasn't sure what changed between the time she left to go on her walk on the beach alone until she returned.

But something _had_ changed.

She didn't argue with it or ask why either because the next eight days she got to spend with him were days she would never forget for as long as she lived.

The first morning she woke up her usual time, and turned over with a cautious stretch so she didn't wake up Tony on accident. She was startled by the sight of Tony's side of the bed being empty. Tony had almost always still been in bed when she woke up in the morning, so the fact he wasn't where she expected him to be, she sat up.

Burnt cinnamon.

The thing that stopped her from calling out to him had been the smell of burnt cinnamon.

Then the shrill, piercing sound of an alarm filled the air.

"What the…" she muttered, throwing back the covers, and slipping on her robe as she hurried towards kitchen. Seconds later she entered the kitchen in time to see Tony dump a blackened something into the trash, and turned on the exhaust fan over the stove. He then opened the sliding patio door to get rid of the lingering smoke.

When he still hadn't noticed her presence a few moments later, she cleared her throat, "Tony?"

He spun around, and coughing a little because of the smoke, he coughed when he asked, "Pep...per, what are… are you doing in h-here?"

"I think that's supposed to be _my_ question to you," she said, gesturing towards the stove, "What were you doing?"

Tony coughed a little more and wrapped his arm around her, "Come on, I don't think it's a good idea for you or I.B. for you to keep breathing in the smoke."

Pepper nodded, and followed his lead, "Well for the record, it isn't good for you either. And _I.B._? Also, you're avoiding my question about what you were trying to do in the kitchen?"

"Short for Iron Baby, of course, and I'm not avoiding your question."

Shaking her head, and smiling at the _Iron Baby_ nickname, she insisted, "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Pretty sure in _are_ , because you still haven't answered it yet!"

Sighing, he muttered, "I was trying to me you breakfast in bed."

"You were trying to make me-"

"Breakfast in bed, yeah."

Before he knew what hit him, Tony's wife was kissing him all over his face. She kissed him at least a dozen times before putting her hands on both sides of his face, and laying a long, deep kiss on his lips that left them both breathless.

When he had breath again, only one word came to mind, "Wow."

"Yeah."

"If I would have made you breakfast years ago if I had known you'd do _that_ as a thank you."

"I'd say there's more where that came from but…"

"You're hungry."

" _We're_ hungry."

"Well, it won't be breakfast in bed but I can try-"

Covering his mouth with her hand, she smiled. "How about we make breakfast together?"

He nodded, and she dropped her hand.

"What were you trying to make anyway?" she asked as they went back into the kitchen.

"French toast."

"French toast?"

"Uh huh."

"That sounds really good. Is there any bread left?"

"Hey! I didn't do _that_ badly!"

Tony's attempt to make her breakfast in bed followed by them finally doing it together was only the beginning of their routine for the next week. For every day after that, they'd wake up together, watch the sun come up as she learned he had actually done on the morning of the failed breakfast attempt. The sun rises were breathtaking here so she welcomed being able to watch the beauty brigthen the skies wrapped in his arms.

After breakfast, they'd tidy up the kitchen real quick, then either go for a long walk on the beach or go to the pool. She would sit by or sometimes on the edge of the water, watching him as he would sometimes swim, but usually Tony would just sit with her, and talk to her. They would talk about everything in the world and nothing at all.

After a leisurely lunch that they usually had sent over from the resort's kitchen, a long nap wrapped in each other's arms was in order. Pepper smiled every time she would wake up to feel Tony's hand on her stomach, as he tried to include their son in everything as much as he could.

After their nap, they'd have dinner, again provided by the resort's kitchen, and then they'd spend the rest of the evening showing each other how much they loved each other. She would then be so drowsy glowing in the warmth of the love that she had both given and had received from her husband that soon she would fall asleep listening to Tony talk to their son.

She must have sensed something was different about tonight because instead of laying her head down, and drifting off to sleep listening to his nightly conversation with their son, she held him close. Neither of them said anything for the longest, as though they didn't know what to say.

"I saw him," Tony said in a quiet voice, breaking the quiet before adding a second later, "I've seen our son."

Pepper's fingers stilled from their trail through his hair, "What did you say?"

"I said that I _saw_ our son… in a dream."

She swallowed back the sudden jolt of fear she'd felt, "Sounds like a nice dream."

He wanted to be able to say that it was, but knowing it was a vision of the very near future that he was never going to be a part of stopped him. So, he said, "It wasn't just a random dream, Pep. I believe what I saw was the future. No, I _know_ what I saw was the future."

The sadness in his voice scared Pepper, and she pulled away from him to look at him, "Tony, what did you see? How do you know it wasn't just a random dream?"

He closed his eyes, sighing, "I know it wasn't random, honey, because there is something I haven't told you yet. You know when you went walking on the beach by yourself, and I stayed on the patio?"

"Yes?"

"Honey, well, I had a visitor while you were gone, and before you ask who or how, it was Doctor Stephen Strange." He opened his eyes in time to see a concerned… puzzlement cross her face, so he added, "Remember he's a wizard. I swear, Pep, he was here eight days ago!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you. So what did he want?"

Tony hesitated to answer her question. How did he tell her the reason Stephen came was to take away the pain? How could he say that that, until the wizard had visited him, the pain was fast growing to the point of where it was becoming unbearable?

"He came to help me with something."

"What?"

"Something."

"Tony…"

"Pepper."

"Why won't you tell me _why_ he was here?"

Her question was met with silence.

"It's because you were in pain, weren't you?"

Silence again was her answer.

"Oh, Tony, why did you say something? The doctors-"

"Gave me pain meds strong enough to knock out an elephant, and being doped up to the point I wouldn't even know you were with me wasn't how I wanted to spend my last days!"

A tear rolled her face, and she swiped it away before saying, "I understand that, honey, I really do. But the thought of you being in pain, and refusing to use the painkillers the doctors gave you…" She covered her mouth to hold in the sobs.

He pulled her close again, "Hey, hey, shhh, now. Honey, I'm fine. I promise I am. I don't know what Strange did, but while he was here the pain stopped, and I promise you I haven't hurt one tiny ounce since his visit."

"You're not hurting?"

"No, I _promise_ you that I'm feel fine."

She still cried, even after hearing he wasn't hurting right now.

"He's beautiful," Tony said, once she had cried herself out, "Morgan, our son."

Pepper didn't say anything, just curled further into him.

He kissed her hair, "I love you." She murmured something he knew to be _I love you_ in return, and smiling, he pressed another kiss, "Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

After giving him a long look, she nodded, closing her eyes, "Don't stay up too late talking to our little guy. Okay?"

"Okay, I won't."

"Goodnight, Tony."

"NIght, Pep."

It had been over an hour since he had seen or heard any signs that Pepper was still awake. He was though. He was wide awake, and Tony wasn't sure why other than the nagging feeling he had been having for most of the day.

When they came to this place to get away from the world, where it was just them and their unborn son like they wanted it to be, they had both known he was dying. Helen Cho and every other doctor they had consulted, had said the same thing she had. They, had all estimated that he would not live more than a few months. The thought of leaving Pepper and his son behind to go on without him was definitely the worst part of this. It hurt Tony more than he dreamed anything ever could, almost to the point the pain was physical, but he had found little ways to make peace with it. If his death was the price for being sure the two people he loved most in the world would get to live out their lives in relative peace, then so be it.

He just wished he'd be around long enough to be able to hold his son in his arms just one time.

But it was not to be.

He knew it with every fiber of his being, and he had known since he waking up with his wife to watch the sunrise that morning, that he wouldn't be there to watch the next one with her. He'd kept the realization to himself because he hadn't wanted his final day spent with sadness or tears marring it. He had wanted today to be a happy day for the both of them, and except for the time just before she fell asleep, that is what it had been.

He wasn't sure how much time he had left, but he knew it was only a matter of hours now. Now that it, that the moment death would claim him was near, Tony realized, with some surprise, that he wasn't afraid. He could only take a guess why he wasn't afraid to die. One guess was maybe the fact he had faced it so many times over the last decade, that he wasn't afraid of dying anymore. Or the more likely reason, he wasn't afraid to say hello to death tonight was because he knew the beautiful woman who had been laying wrapped up in his arms earlier would go on. He knew without any doubt that Pepper would go on after he was gone, and she would have a good life with their little boy. Yes, he was sad that he wasn't going to be there to share it with them, and yes he couldn't help the grief he was feeling, but he knew they'd be okay.

Death was so close now, he could practically _feel_ the Grim Reaper breathing down his neck. Tony considered waking Pepper up but in the end he didn't. He had told Strange he wanted to be looking at his wife when he died and so he was. She was so beautiful to him that she took his breath away. Although he'd seen and been with many countless beautiful women in his life, Pepper was the first woman he could honestly say she was the only woman who took his breath when he looked at her.

She still did, especially now with the glow of motherhood upon her.

Man, he didn't think he'd ever seen a more beautiful woman in his life than the angel sleeping peacefully beside him.

He started to reach out, and caress her face, but stopped himself short of doing so. He didn't want to wake her up. Instead he lightly placed his hand on her stomach, and after whispering _I love you_ , he looked down where his hand laid. He smiled when he felt a light kick underneath it, then frowned slightly. He moved closer, and murmured, "Hey, mister, let's not wake up Mommy, huh? She needs her sleep, and you'll be keeping her up nights soon enough. In fact, I think maybe you need to go to sleep yourself, okay?"

He got even closer to his wife's stomach, and began humming quietly, wanting their son to go to sleep so his mother could continue to sleep for a few hours. Exhaustion would be here soon enough for Pepper without her waking up tonight, and only would be made worse by watching something she couldn't stop.

He hummed on for several minutes, and once he was sure the baby had fallen asleep, he began talking, "I know we've not met face to face yet but I love you, Morgan. I love you more than I've loved anything else… well except for your Mom, of course."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to keep the tears in his eyes where they were, "I… I'm so sorry you're going to have to grow up without your old man around. I know exactly how it feels when your Dad's not there, and I hate it that in a way, I am going to do to you what my own Dad did to me. But I can't change… can't change what's already happened or the choice I made. I made the choice that you, and your Mom, and Peter…" He stopped there, unable to go on for the lump in his throat.

He started rubbing Pepper's stomach again, hoping that he wouldn't wake her or the baby. But he had to do this because this was the only way for his son to feel his touch in their last moments together. After a few minutes of fighting to reign in the agony he was feeling, he start talking again.

"I made the choice that you, and your Mom, and Peter… you were _all_ going to have the lives you deserved. I knew when I made my choice to save you, and your Mom, and Peter, and the universe, I would have to pay some kind of price for it. But that's okay… you are worth it, and so much more. You, your Mom... all of you mean more to me than… than me getting to go on being one of many residents of planet Earth for another few decades. I decided that I was willing to pay whatever the cost no matter what it was, orthose extra decades I got in exchange if I hadn't done it wouldn't have meant anything. Without you or your Mom, they would have have been way too empty."

It would been so unbearably empty that, without the people he loves, and he knows he would have blown his brains out before five… before even one year had passed.

Like the time inevitably coming in, a sudden wave of tiredness washed over Tony, accompanied with the realization his time was almost over. He swallowed, and took a few breaths before he said, "Your Daddy has got to go to… sleep now. Be good for your Mommy, okay? And remember just because I'm not here anymore doesn't mean that I don't love you. I love you, son. I will _always_ love you no matter what. Dying doesn't change that, and if I had to do it all over again, knowing the price I'd have to pay to give you and your Mom the lives you both deserve, I'd do it without hesitation. I love you, Morgan."

After a few more rubs on his wife's stomach he turned his eyes to Pepper's face, and stared at her sleep relaxed face before whispering, "I love you, Pepper. You were the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm sorry I didn't show you that you were often enough. Please, honey, don't cry too much after I'm gone." It was getting harder to talk so he just laid back, and looked at her for another moment.

 _I love you._

Yawning then stretching, Pepper could fill the warmth of the tropical sun spilling across their bed, and for a moment she just laid there basking in it. There was no need to rush to start the day, although she would need to get up soon since her son was currently pressing on her bladder.

Her son.

 _Their_ son.

She smiled, remembering how excited and _joyous_ Tony had been when she confirmed they were going to have a baby. He had whooped out loud, and picked her up before spinning both of them around.

Thankfully spinning hadn't last long because he said he was afraid he'd hurt their baby, but she knew it was really because of his condition. He was quite winded for some time after that, but the sparkle never left his eyes, and or the smile on his lips.

She was so happy that even in their current situation, they had something so wonderful to share together, and Tony's daily interactions with her stomach were an unending source of amusement. He was constantly touching her stomach whenever they were close together (which was always), and more than once she had fallen asleep listening to the sound of his voice talking to their child about _everything_ under the sun.

How was it possible she was falling in love with this man more with every day that passed? How was it possible she had left him for any length of time, no matter how brief it was? Looking back on their time apart, she now regretted it with every fiber of her being and would give _anything_ if they could have the time they'd lost then back.

 _Stop it!_ she told herself angrily, _You can't turn back the hands of time. All you can do now is love Tony with all of your heart for as long as he's with you._

He would be with her forever and always, she knew, even when his physical presence was gone. He would never leave her heart for as long as she breathed in air.

She was brought abruptly out of her thoughts when she felt a sharp couple of kicks to her side. She raised her hand to rub her stomach and say, "Okay, okay, I get the idea. You want Mommy to get up and go pee!" But as quickly as she going to rub, she had to stop. Something familiar was on her stomach.

Smiling she opened her eyes, and quickly caught sight of Tony's hand laying on her stomach. Her smile grew as she turned her head towards his, "How are my favorite two men this morning?"

There was no response from Tony.

 _Maybe he's still asleep?_ she thought, moving her head forward to kiss him awake. She immediately pulled back because something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

First, he still wasn't giving her any response, and second, his lips felt cold.

Too cold.

Feeling how upset his mother was becoming the baby started to kick again.

"Tony?"

There was nothing from him.

"This isn't funny!" she said, his voice rising, "I mean it! Tony, open your eyes!"

He didn't move.

Pepper stared at him, not wanting to do what she needed to do next. She continued to stare at him for five minutes before another kick from the baby brought her out of her stupor.

 _Please no. Please, God, don't let him be... be..._

Slowly she raised her hand to the side of his face. His skin was definitely cold to the touch, and there was a pallor to it she hadn't noticed before. Biting back a sob, she slowly trailed her hand down from his cheek to his neck, and felt there.

Nothing.

She couldn't feel his blood flowing underneath her fingertips.

"Nooo!" she yelled, sitting up as fast as she could while being pregnant.

His hand fell onto to bed between them.

She reached out to shake him.

"Tony! Wake up! Please _wake up now_!"

But he couldn't wake up. He would never wake up again.

Sobbing, she finally stopped shaking, and instead pulled him up as best she could into her arms. Rocking him gently, she continued to sob into his hair as she stroked, and kissed it, "No! I'm not ready yet! I'm not ready for you to leave me yet!"

"Strange?" Wong said, as he pushed the door to the other's room open, "It is..." He stopped speaking as he entered the room, and found the other sorcerer sitting up in bed, wrapped in a blanket.

"Over," Stephen said, hoarsely, "Yes, I know. I felt him go the moment it happened."

"How? He was not one of us!"

Pained eyes met his, "He wasn't a Master of the Mystical Arts, Wong, but he _was_ one of us. He defended the Earth with his life as much as we do, and although I _really_ didn't like him when we first met, I know now he was our brother." When Wong didn't leave his room after that, he asked, "Why do you keep staring at me like that?"

Wong's answer was to conjure up a mirror in front of Strange's face. He immediately saw what was causing Wong to stare, and shrugging he turned his head to better study the new white sections gracing his hair, "I can't say I'm surprised this happened. He was in a lot of pain."

His words absorbed into the following silence and then he threw back the blanket wrapped around him to the foot of his bed. Getting out of bed he was dressed the second his feet hit the floor, and the Cloak of Levitation settled on his shoulders with a flourish.

"What are you doing?" Wong asked as Strange attempted to open a portal.

"There's someone I need to talk to."

"But you are weak."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I know what you did to help him, and you are weak because of it."

As if to prove the other sorcerer's point, Strange stumbled and not just a little. The only reason he didn't do a face plant on the floor was the Cloak kept him on his feet.

"You need to rest, and recover your strength before you leave the Sanctum."

"I'm not planning on getting into a fight, Wong."

"Nevertheless-"

"Wong! I'm okay... or I will be long enough to do what I have to do. I don't expect this to take long and I will come straight back here. I promise." He added the last part when it looked like his friend would protest further.

Wong nodded, "Should I accompany you?"

"No, I think it's better if I do this alone." With those words, Stephen succeeded in opening a portal and stepped through to his destination.

"Are you certain that is the wisest course of action, Doctor?"

The sorcerer nodded, "Yes… Mrs. Stark is in no condition to let you inside herself. As it is, I have my doubts she will know you are there at first. It's only been a little over an hour since he..."

"The Earth has lost one of the greatest defenders she will ever know."

"Yes, and in there is a woman who has lost the man she called the love of her life not all that long ago."

The head opposite of him nodded, "I will do whatever I am able to do to assist her. But should this privilege not fall to someone else, Doctor? I am acquainted with Mrs. Stark, of course, but it is what I believe what most would call a passing acquaintance. I believe Colonel Rhodes would be a more suitable choice."

"No, you're wrong about about someone else being more suitable. Trust me when I tell you, you'll be able to give her initial comfort in a way that no one else will be able to. Not even Rhodes."

"But-"

"You _need_ to go inside now. The authorities will be here only after another half an hour, and no more. Go."

Vision nodded, and after watching the sorcerer disappear through the portal he opened, turned to the wall of the house. Phasing his body, he passed through with ease to the interior, immediately hearing the sound of someone mourning. As he was still learning about human emotions, he hesitated to go in but only a fraction of a moment. Having a relationship with Wanda had taught him much, and if he admitted to it, the parts of JARVIS he still had inside of him had also helped a lot.

Perhaps it was this part of his being he should call upon now.

Perhaps what was left of AI could now guide him in helping the woman his creator, _their_ creator had loved with his very being.

Perhaps.

"Vision..."

The wizard's voice interrupted any further thoughts he may have had.

"Can you-"

"I will give Mrs. Stark whatever aid I can, Doctor Strange." He saw the snow white head nod before he turned, "And, Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Might I suggest you seek out assistance of your own? You appear to be quite ill."

"I will. You _need_ to go, _now_."

"Miss Potts?"

"J-JARVIS? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, JARVIS, you have to call for help!"

"I assure you, Miss Potts, help is presently on their way and will arrive here momentarily."

"Tell them to _hurry_ , JARVIS! I can't get Tony to wake up and he feels so _cold_!"

"Help is coming, ma'am."

Vision had so often heard humans talk about how the passage of time seem to vary in its speed. He had heard them talk about how the years would go by so slowly one moment when they were looking forward to something happening, like the birth of their child. Then in true paradoxical fashion, he would also hear the same people talk about how fast their children were growing up, and how the years were flying.

For him the speed of the passage of time remained the same, even during those two years that he was always waiting patiently for the stolen moments he shared with Wanda to arrive again.

Now as he stayed just out of sight, and he listened to the now widow of Tony Stark mourn his loss to arrive, he perhaps for the first time, now begun to understand _why_ humans talk about time passing by so slowly in a way he never thought possible.

After an interminable length of time, Vision heard the arrival of the island's authorities. He knew they would have the means to enter the house, so he elected to maintain his vigil by staying where he was. Less than a minute later, they entered the hallway he was standing in,

Holding up a hand to halt them, he called out, "Help has arrived, Miss Potts. They would like your approval to enter."

"Yes! Yes! Send them in, JARVIS! SEND THEM IN!"

After giving them a nod, the android stepped aside to allow them access to the room where Tony Stark, the Earth's Best Defender as Captain Rogers once called him, laid dead and growing colder by the second. Any further contemplations he may have had were interrupted by a voice that did not belong to Pepper.

"Please, ma'am, if you want us to help your husband, you need to let go of him."

How strange, he pondered, that she was asking for JARVIS to call the authorities to come give help, yet when after they have arrived, she will not relinquish Mr. Stark's body over to them.

 _It's because she already knows, Vis._

 _She already knows what, Wanda?_

 _That he is gone, and there is no helping him now. But she still had to call for them… or she would hate herself for not doing everything she humanly could to bring him back. I know… I know this is what she is thinking because I have thought the same thing in the past._

He felt a wave of sympathy from her, and had been about to say something to her again when the same male voice brought him out of the moment between them.

"Please, ma'am..." the voice pleaded, with an underlying hint of growing frustration.

Without thinking or any further hesitation, Vision stepped into the bedroom. Because of how he felt for Wanda, the android knew that if he indeed had a physical heart, it would be breaking at the sight before him. Pepper was laying with her back against the bed's headboard, clutching her husband's body in her arms. Anytime any of the island officials tried to approach them, she send them a look that while grief stricken also told them to back off from them.

 _Go to her, Vis._

No further urging was needed for the android to cross the room.

The young man who appeared to be a paramedic look back at Vision when he got closer.

"Please, allow me to try."

After a second of hesitation, the medic nodded, and then moved out of his way.

Vision took a step closer to the bed, and with her eyes watching him, dropped down on one knee so he would be closer to her without the appearance of trying make her do what he would be asking of her. He needed to be gentle with her, he knew, and when he spoke, he made sure to keep his voice as kind as he could.

"Miss Potts?"

Confusion joined the unclouded pain in the woman's eyes as she hoarsely asked, "JARVIS?"

Although it was not completely true, but was not complete lie either, Vision nodded a confirmation, "Ma'am, you need to relinquish your hold on Mr. Stark, and allow these gentleman…" He looked back towards the waiting group, "and lady to take him so they might help him."

Even while he was speaking, the android knew his words were hollow ones because he could see the parlor of death on Tony's body. There was no hope that Tony could be brought back as he'd been dead for hours, probably for hours before she had realized it but wasn't the point.

"Please, Miss Potts." Vision added gently.

Looking at the officials standing in the bedroom ready to take her husband from her, she locked eyes with the older man of the group and asked, "Will you be careful with him? He's not been well."

The man's frustration had melted away, and his eyes were compassionate as he answered her, "Yes course, ma'am. You have my word will we have the utmost respect for your husband."

"Thank you."

"May we take him now?"

Pepper did not answer him right away. Instead she lifted one of Tony's limp hands, and brought it close to her lips, pressing a kiss on the back. She whispered into his ear words they could not hear, and finally she looked at the older man again, nodding. She laid Tony down on the bed, and with Vision's help, stood up.

Vision guided her to the side of the room so they could have room to work.

She emitted a cry when one of the officials, employees of the local coroner's office Vision now realized, brought forward a plastic body bag.

Surprised by his own actions, Vision put an arm around Pepper, and tenderly guided her until she was facing away from them, and her head was laying against his shoulder. His eyes watched the coroner's people work, and before they could place Tony's body in the bag, he spoke, "Please, sir, would you delay… encasing Mr. Stark in that?"

The coroner paused, then nodded. His people took out the body bag, and instead a gurney was brought into the room.

"Thank you."

The official nodded at him.

Within minutes of being allowed into the room, the coroner's people had taken Tony from it, and then the house. The coroner spoke to Vision, and told him that they were leaving contact information for his office on the kitchen table before he left himself.

Once they were gone, the android found himself at loss about what he should do since Pepper was now clinging to him, crying again. He considered consulting with his own love for advice regarding this when the presence of another in the house became known.

James Rhodes.

"Pepper?"

"Rhodey!"

Before the android could blink, she had flown to the man's arms, and began sobbing again.

Later, after Rhodey had gotten Pepper to calm down enough to both eat a small meal, then sleep, they talked.

Vision learned it was Wong who had brought Rhodey to where they were as Stephen Strange was in too much of a weakened state to leave the Sanctum so soon. Neither of them understood why the sorcerer had chosen to bring Vision to Pepper first but both did have to acknowledge, his presence had been a comfort to the grieving woman.

"Don't sell yourself short, Vision," Rhodey said while the android pondered the whys and wherefores, "You were able to give aid to and more importantly, comfort to Pepper. I'll be grateful to you for that, forever, and wherever he is right now, I'm sure T… Tony is grateful too."


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on, sweetheart," Pepper said, propping his son up in her arms before handing him the cool plastic teething ring, "Let's go see how they're coming along with Daddy's... very special place."

At the invitation of the curators, she had brought Morgan to the site where a public outdoor monument was being erected for the Avengers. No one on Earth ever wanted to forget what they did or the sacrifices made by them during the War that was being dubbed the Infinity War or simply, _The War_.

"Please let us know if you have any concerns, comments, or suggestions," one of the curators called after her.

She looked over her shoulder, nodded, but kept walking deeper into the newly established national park. She wasn't walking slowly but she wasn't going too fast either, wanting to take in the sights. She had to admit to herself that it was very beautiful, peaceful as they'd left much of the old spruce trees and many of the flowers growing there already alone whenever possible, forming a natural pathway for visitors to follow alongside them.

The plan and design for the monument was for each of the Avengers to have their own plaque on a stone marker. Each would be spaced every so often as you walked along pathway. One the stone markers, visitors would be able to read about the Avenger it belonged to, telling them a little about who they were before the War, and if applicable, what their lives were like now afterwards.

Pepper took a little time to look at each, reading some of the details aloud to herself in Morgan. It was a delaying tactic, she knew, as she was dreading the moment she would see Tony's memorial for the first time. The source of her dread came from the fact the design committee t had informed her that Tony's memorial, like the one belonging to Steve Rogers, would be different from the others.

They'd have statues.

She had been told that there wanted to have two statues for each of the men. The first, they'd explained, would portray them as their superhero identities, while the second one would try to portray them as they had been outside their masks.

She hoped and prayed for her husband that this didn't mean they would just use Tony's famous public persona as their inspiration for him. She hoped the artist would somehow manage to capture some tiny bit of the essence of the man she had known, and loved.

Both of the statues were still being sculpted off site, and it would be several months still before they were finished. She was glad the statues were not finished yet since she wasn't sure she could handle seeing someone else's life-sized vision of Tony. Still when she reached then finally continued on from Steve's memorial, she took her time walking down the path. She needed to prepare herself for what she'd been seeing and reading when she came to Tony's memorial.

"You can do this. You can do this," she muttered, and took a few breaths, then started walking forward again.

.

When she exited the treeline, Pepper slowed a little when she looked at towards the site where it was, and saw someone standing there in front of the unfinished monument. At first she thought maybe it was one of the workers who hadn't left this area yet, but then she remembered the curators had promised her that she'd be able to view what they'd finished on her own. So it wasn't one of the workers, and she considered going back the way she came because if it wasn't one of them, then somehow, someone who shouldn't be here had gotten into the park and -

Her train of thought halted when the man turned slightly, and she could see a side view of his face.

"Doctor Strange?" she inquired, only half unsure. "Is that you?"

As if to confirm for her that it was the sorcerer's familiar Cloak flew over to him from wherever he had put it, and settled around his shoulders.

"Hello, Mrs. Stark," he said in his deep voice, finally turning all the way around to face her, "I am sorry if I scared you. I know the curators told you that no one else would be here in the park while you were here. I will leave if you want-"

"Oh no! You can stay if you want to! I don't mind really! I just wasn't expecting anyone other than us to be here is all." As she spoke, she walked over to stand beside him at the base of the monument.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure... please _do_ stay."

"Alright."

Before either of them could speak again, the baby had dropped his teething ring for favor of grabbing two little handfuls of the red Cloak. Immediately his mother used her free hand to try to pry his little hands off.

"No, no, sweetie. Let's not grab onto other people's... cloaks like that and put them in our-" She didn't get a chance to finish the sentence as her son lifted the part of the Cloak he was holding, and inserted it right into his little grinning mouth. She, of course, gently removed the piece of garment from the baby's mouth, then quickly had to turn to comfort mode once his little face crumpled up and he began crying. Shifting her son around in her arms so he was facing away from the man who was watching them with a smile on his face, she said, "I'm so sorry about that."

Stephen shrugged, "Believe me, the Cloak of Levitation has been a lot worse than having a little bit of baby drool on it and survived. And I am pretty sure it doesn't mind at all." As if to prove his point, while he was speaking, the Cloak began stroking the back of the baby's head, "See? It takes more than a little drool to offend the Cloak of Levitation."

"Unlike using a cauldron of _something or another_ to keep your balance while stretching?"

"Tony told you about that, hmm? And it was the Cauldron of the Cosmos he was using as a prop. I wasn't crazy about him doing that but the Cloak liked it even less resulting in the smack."

" _The Cloak liked it even less_?"

"Yes, it's actually a magic relic in its own right. It chose me, I didn't choose it. For example, I'm not making it do what it's doing now and I didn't make it smack Tony, although I'm pretty certain he thought I made it smack him since I'd made it crystal clear I didn't like him. You should have seen the look on his face."

Pepper looked at him through teary eyes but she was smiling, genuinely smiling, "I can just imagine the look." She wiped away a stray tear, "So, you said you didn't like him?"

"No, I didn't. Not at that moment in time."

"But your changed your mind later?"

"Yes."

"Would you mind if I asked what changed your mind, Doctor-"

"Stephen. Please call me Stephen."

"Only if you'll call me Ginny?"

He noticed her request was for him to use her old nickname… the one she had before she had met Tony, He guessed it was too painful for her to keep being called Pepper when Tony was no longer the one doing it.

"I can do that."

"Okay, Stephen? Same question? What made you change your mind about Tony?"

"After we... _landed_ on Titan, I begin to see that there was to Tony than what my preconceived and personal first impressions of him led me to believe. His cockiness and the biting, sarcastic retorts... they were as much his mask, and his weapons as the Iron Man armor was."

Pepper could tell that this wasn't something he was entirely comfortable talking about, and she wasn't surprised. If he were Tony and she were asking him about why or how he had changed his mind about about Doctor Strange, he'd probably feel the same way the sorcerer was feeling presently. So she waited with patience, to see if he would add anything else to what he had already told her.

Her patience was rewarded.

"You know that one of the Infinity Stones controlled Time?" he asked, and after she nodded he went on, "The Stone of Time allowed the bearer to control Time itself. Most of the wielders would use its power to see into the future, and I confess, seeing into the future is what I used the Stone for more often than I did other things."

"Like seeing into the past?"

Stephen nodded, "Yes, like seeing into the past."

When his words sank in, a realization dawned for Pepper, and she said, "That's what you did, didn't you? You looked into Tony's past and saw something there that helped to change your mind!" It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

Holding Morgan even closer to her, she quietly spoke, "What you saw... it was about Tony's father." Once again she was stating not asking him a question.

"Yes."

"What did you see, Stephen?"

"What I saw... some of the past events of his life... were things that should not have happened to anyone... not even to someone who was born into wealth, and especially not to a child."

"Oh my... you didn't see his father actually..."

"No!" He knew he'd spoken too quickly from the skepticism on her features, and so he added, "No, nothing of the sort of nature you are thinking of."

"Then what…"

"I saw a tiny sapling longing for the grand warmth of the sun. But instead of being provided the love it sought from the sun, it languished in the cold success of the great tree beside it."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Uh, sorry, I've been around Master Wong too long."

"I _heard_ that, _Master_ Strange!"

Stephen smiled at the annoyance in his voice while Pepper briefly looked around for him.

"It means once he was born, among his other many issues, I think Howard Stark was jealous of Tony."

"He was jealous of… that… that!"

Strange guessed she probably wanted to call Howard a few choice names, but was refraining from doing because of the baby in her arms. With the way she stewed for the next few minutes, Stephen found himself wishing she could have joined them in the fight against Thanos.

The Mad Titan would have never known what hit him!

He chuckled to himself.

Pepper gave him an inquiring look, and he shook his head/

"It's nothing. Just a random thought I had."

She considered asking what it was, but then didn't as she remembered something about not interfering in the affairs of wizards.

Something about them being subtle and quick to anger?

Anyway, she let it slip and a few moments later...

"May I ask you something that might be a little... personal?"

The sorcerer nodded, "Yes, of course. Ask away."

"What... what happened to your hair? Because when I saw you at our wed... wedding, it was dark with only a few streaks of white."

However instead of answering her question, Strange turned away, looking back towards the memorial.

Pepper wasn't ready to let it lie though, and she lightly touched his shoulder, "Stephen, please tell me. I want to know."

"Actually I'm not sure that you do want to know."

"Because the reason has to do with Tony," she concluded.

He gave the slightest nod of his head, "Yes."

"Tell me."

"The reason is... there are no words powerful enough prepare for how horrible it is or why I am so reluctant to tell you."

"Alright, I know you're trying to give me one last chance to back out of you telling me but I want... I _need_ you to tell me, Stephen. Please if you don't, I'll just imagine the worst things possible!"

He gave a long sigh, "Very well, I will tell you although I don't think anything you could imagine is worse than what I am about to say, but here it goes anyway. During the last battle with Thanos, after the Titan had given Captain Rogers his fatal wounds, he turned his attention back to Tony. He spoke a curse, and I don't mean he swore at Tony either, but he spoke an actual curse that once given could not be undone. The curse is so powerful, that even if every sorcerer on Earth joined forces with me in trying to break it, it could not be broken."

In truth, he doubted that even the Asgardian magicians who were considered to be _the_ masters of the mystic arts throughout the known universe, would have been able to break it.

Pepper closed her eyes, and bowed her head so she inhaled her son's sweet baby scent, trying to ground herself from what he just told her.

It should not surprise her that Thanos had used every bit of his power to ensure Tony would pay dearly for his defeat. She should have known that price would mean it would not just be with his life only. He had, after all, been a powerful being with a twisted, perverted sense of what was right, and what was wrong. he had to have been furious when he realized that a puny human being was going to not only defeat him but help to bring about the end of his life.

He had to have been furious, and which meant he would have had wanted to not only see Tony dead as his revenge, but he would have wanted...

No, she could bear herself to think that thought out to its fullness but she found herself inquiring of the sorcerer before she knew what she was doing.

"The curse he put on Tony wasn't just about killing him, was it?"

Stephen said nothing,

If she was going to know the entire horrifying truth about this, she would have to figure it out for herself.

Pepper's eyes narrowed as she stared at him, "It wasn't."

 _That_ wasn't a question.

"Oh my... he didn't just want Tony to die. He wanted... he wanted Tony to... to s-s-suffer before he died, didn't he?" Although there was most certainly a question mark at the end of that sentence, Strange knew that Pepper _knew_ the answer to her own question without him confirming it.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she covered her mouth with her free hand, "Oh… my… Tony…"

If she were not holding Morgan in her arms, Pepper knows she would have sobbed, would have _wailed_ at this revelation. The thought of anyone wanting to torture the man she still loved with her entire being to literal death...

It as almost more than she could bear!

She wanted to scream out her pain so desperately but would not because she did not want to scare her son.

This however, did not stop the baby's little bottom lip from beginning to tremble. Neither did it stop the crocodile tears from spilling down his sweet little face or keep him from throwing back his head, and begin wailing at the top of his lungs.

At hearing her son's distress, Pepper immediately snapped out of her tormented thoughts, and started to rub Morgan's back, "Shhh, sweetheart, Mommy's here and she's sorry that she got you all upset by getting so upset herself. Shhh, please don't cry, baby." As she continued to soothe her baby, she realized that her own emotions would have to wait until a later date. Maybe after they went back home today she would ask Happy or maybe even her assistant Jennifer to watch Morgan so she could take a long walk and scream and cry as much as she wanted to.

She had really upset Morgan this time, she realized since few minutes later he was still crying hard, and would soon have the hiccups if he didn't stop crying so hard. She knew how much much the hiccups would upset him, so she continued with her efforts to calm him down. She gave Strange an apologetic look, and was given a patience nod of understanding in return by the sorcerer.

After another few minutes of the baby continuing to cry, Pepper was a bit startled when the cloak around Stephen's shoulders went flying off. She watched it as it went behind her, and she lost track of what it was doing since every time she turned to look at it, Morgan would whine in protest.

"The Cloak's trying to cheer up your son and is doing tricks to entertain him," Strange explained, smiling at the garment's antics.

Pepper nodded a thanks, and continued rubbing the baby's back for several minutes without comment.

Neither of them spoke again until they heard a tiny peal of laughter originate from Pepper's shoulder.

Pepper had perhaps never wished for anything more than in the moment she wished she had the ability to see what was going on behind her. She jumped a little when in front of her something that was mirrorlike appeared, in which she could see the acrobatics magical garment behind her was doing to cause her little boy to laugh.

"Thank you, Stephen," she began as she watched the Cloak entertain her baby, "And I don't mean for the… mirror either. Thank you for what you did for Tony."

He nodded, "It was a privilege to help Tony in anyway I could, Ginny, both as a friend and as a doctor."

The instant the words left his mouth, it was as if Thor directed a bolt of lightning into her mind and heart to reveal the truth the man before her wasn't saying aloud, so she said the words aloud for him, "The week before Tony… he wasn't hurting at all. I think he had been hurting up until then and was trying not to let me know that he was. But you visited him the week before… and after that, he was himself again. You took his pain away, didn't you?"

The sorcerer kept his silence.

Pepper looked at him, and notice not only was his hair white but he seemed to have grown older than the last time they'd met. Now granted, the day they had meet had been on her wedding day, so needless to say she had been almost entirely focused on the man she had just married. But she remembered enough of _this_ man's face to know that whereas the skin around his eyes had once been smooth, were now wrinkled.

"But it was more than just taking away the pain, wasn't it? You not only took Tony's pain, but you also took it _inside_ yourself, and that's why your hair has gone white!"

There was no point in denying the conclusion she had so rightly drawn.

"Yes."

"Thank you," she said, wiping away a stray tear, trying not to imagine how excruciating the pain had to have been to result in him physically, visibly changing so much.

"As I said before, it was a privilege."

She still wanted to and needed to have a really good cry after finding out what Thanos tried to do to Tony. She really would need it now, after finding out what this man had done to help her husband during his final days. She supposed her dstress must have been showing on her face because he spoke again.

"Don't concern yourself over what it was like for me during those days. Whereas Tony didn't have an escape, I did have an escape the pain of the curse."

"Through your magic?"

"Yes."

But even after hearing his reassurances, Pepper still planned on having a good long cry later on. Tonight would be the night since tonight was was Rhodey's turn to listen out for his godson during the night.

"Thank you," she told him again, then wiped away another tear,

She then turned to watching Morgan and the Cloak as they continued to play together for a little while. It was only after little Morgan began yawning, and it was obvious that he wouldn't be keeping his beautiful brown eyes much longer, did she realize something. She realized during those few minutes, while watching her little boy's face light up, the darkness for her was beginning to lift. She could see for the first time since she had lost the love of her life, that Tony's light with still with them.

With her.

She knew then that she would be alright.

 _They_ would be alright.

* * *

 **End Notes:** Well, it's done. I really didn't believe this one would get finished... not after my muse for this fled from me, and after I started regretted the fact I had started it. I think not thinking about it for a few months while I finished my Pepperony epic helped, like a lot.

This isn't a promise set in stone but one day I may revisit this story in some way. I would like to may write out a scene with Peter, and how he handles Tony's death. I know what thing I'd like to do is write a scene where Tony's will is read but we'll see. I am considering this story finished until maybe one day I want to pick it again to write that scene.

Thank you for everyone who read this and encouraged me. This story literally would not have been finished without you!


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